Match-box.



PATENTED MAY 21, 1907.

' J. W. HURD. MATCH BOX.

APPLICATION IILED DEC. 5, 1906.

co., wAsl-nmirrm. n. c.

JAMES WESLEY HURD, OF DONA, VIRGINIA. i

MATCH-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 1907.

li gti fil d December; 5,1906. Serial No. 346.452.

To all whom/ it nuty concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES WEsLEY HURD, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Dona, in the county of Lee and State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in MatchBoxes, of which the following is a specification.

match boxes of the single delivery type, and has for its object to provide a match box of this character which is simple of construc- 1 tion, efficient of operation, adapted to be conveniently opened and closed, and which embodies an improved construction of parts enabling it to be manufactured at a low cost.

In the accompanying drawing,Figure 1 is a perspective view of a match box embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is ahori- Zontal cross section taken substantially on line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the box on an enlarged scale. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through the front of the box on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4:, the ejector appearing in dotted lines. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the match ejector. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the blank from which the ejector is formed.

The box is of conventional form and may be of any preferred size and made of any suitable material, nickel-plated or otherwise finished or embellished. The side walls 1 may be integral with the front, top and bottom walls 2, 3 and 4., and the parts united at their meeting edges by soldering or otherwise, thus providing for the construction of the body of the box from a single piece of sheet metal. The walls may be independent, however, and united in any preferred manner.

The back of the box is formed by the door 5 composed of a metallic strip marginally grooved to receive and overlap the edges of the side walls. At its upper end the doorstrip is bent to form an eye 6 engaging a pintle 7 011 the top wall 3, said pintle being preferably formed by slitting the top wall transversely adjacent its rear edge. The outer face of the door is preferably indented or otherwise roughened or corrugated to provide a match-striking surface 8, and the lower end of the door has an inbent portion 9 having an upturned locking shoulder 10. A spring strip 11 lies longitudinally upon the bottom wall 4 and is secured at its forward end thereto, the rear or free end of said strip being downwardly bent to provide a looking I shoulder 12 to engage the shoulder and j folded to form a finger piece 13 projecting outwardly and downwardly through a slot in the wall 4. By pressing upward on this finger piece the free end of the spring strip will be lifted, thus throwing the locking projection 12 out of engagement with the shoulder 10, leaving the door free to be swung open.

A pressure spring 15 is riveted or otherwise fixed at its upper rear end to the upper end of the door and is bowed or curved downwardly or forwardly therefrom so that the lower free end thereof will bear against a col- I umn of matches arranged in a single line in the box compartment and press the same against the ejecting device mounted upon the front wall, as hereinafter described. The spring is held in operative position when the dooris closed and is adapted when the door lock is released to exert suflicient rearward pressure to swing the lower free end of the .door outward.

The top wall 3 is cut away at its forward end to form a match discharge opening 16, through which the matches are adapted to be individually discharged by a sliding ejector 17. The ejector 17 comprises a metallic strip approximately as wide as the front wall and arranged to move against the inner surface of the same. The lower end of the ejector strip is provided with an inwardly extending toe or projection 18 to engage the lower end of the adjacent match, whereby the latter may be lifted and forced through the opening 16 when the ejector is actuated. The headed ends of the matches face the top wall, their opposite ends resting upon the projection 18 and upper surface of the spring locking strip 11, which normally have their upper surfaces flush so that the matches can successively slide over the locking strip and into engagement with the projection.

A finger piece 19 is formed upon the ejector and projects through a longitudinal slot 20 formed in the front wall. This slot 20 is somewhat narrower than the wall to produce longitudinal guide flanges 21 at the sides thereof. The ejector is constructed from the blank shown in Fig. 7, and normally comprises a strip having all of its portions lying in the same plane. The finger piece 19 is formed by bowing or ofisetting the intermediate portion of the strip, and the bowed portion composing the finger piece is notched or cut away to produce narrow connecting necks 22 extending through the guide slot and bearing shoulders 23 which ride in contact with the outer surfaces of the flanges 21, thus slidably mounting and securely retaining the ejector in applied position.

Inasmuch as the finger piece 19 is wider than the slot 20, in order to enable the same to be inserted in position, the slot is formed with a widened upper portion 24 through which the finger piece is primarily inserted, and in order to prevent the finger piece from moving upwardly into such widened portion the wall 2 is formed at its upper end with a narrow tongue or projection 25 which overhangs the upper end of the slot. This tongue is initially bent outward to ermit the finger piece to be inserted through t fle portion 24, and-thence bent downward and inward to lie parallel with the wall 2 and in line with the slot 21, so that it will form a stop adapted to be engaged by the finger piece to limit the upward movement of the ejector. The disc arge opening 16 is sufliciently large to permit the upper end of the ejector to be extended therethrough in the operation of applying the ejector in the manner described.

After the matches are inserted the door 5 is closed so that the pressure spring will bear thereon, the spring serving to feed the matches forward as the front matches are successively discharged. The mode of ejecting the matches will be readily understood from the foregoing description, and it will be seen that the construction of the box is such as to permit of its production at a comparatively low cost.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

A match box provided with a discharge opening and formed in one of its walls with a longitudinal guide slot, and provided with guide flanges located on opposite sides of said slot, the forward end of the slot being enlarged at one end, a tongue upon said wall projecting into the enlarged portion of the slot in line with the contracted portion thereof, and a sliding ejector provided at one end with a match engaging toe and formed intermediate of its length with a finger piece, said finger piece comprising an outwardly bowed oflset notched at its side edges to provide reduced necks to travel in the slot and to form shoulders to slide upon said guide flanges, said finger piece being formed by a portion normally lying in the plane of the strip and bent outwardly therefrom, and being of greater width than the slot and adapted to be primarily inserted through the enlarged portion thereof and to be confined in guide slot by bending the tongue in position to form a sto fil testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES WESLEY HURD. Witnesses:

ROBERT WALLER, J. F. Sworn). 

